Steve Paikin (SP): Premier, thank you for taking the time to do this. Why the Northern Ontario swing to begin with?

Kathleen Wynne (KW): So I come to the North frequently but there are some places I haven’t been to and I wanted to make sure that we packed into the week that I was going to be in the North all those places. I started in Sudbury, I’m here in Manitoulin now, I’m going to be going to Sault Ste Marie and then we’re going to the West. I’m going to the Manitoba border to Kenora, I’m going to Sioux Lookout, and then I’m going up to Moosonee. I haven’t been to Moosonee in this fashion for a number of years and I want to get back there. Most of the places I’m going to, I’m going back to. I’ve been there a number of times but a couple, like this, I’ve never been to and I wanted to make sure I got here.

SP: What is the value in doing this?

KW: The value is that I hear the nuance on issues that I’m already aware of, but I get that extra piece of information. So for example here, the tourism. When I was Minister of Transportation we started to pave the shoulders on secondary highways. So Highway 6 I was up here when we doing that. So now today what I’ve heard from some of the cycling folks is that tourism has increased enormously, that they’re seeing, hearing from tourism operators that the majority, or more of a percentage of their customers, are cycling customers. So they want now, as we —

SP (interjecting): They want more money!

KW: Well they want more paved shoulders. You know, I don't hear it like that. I hear that they want more investment in infrastructure so they can make more money and create more jobs.

SP: This is what, day two of your Northern trip?

KW: It is.

SP: So this may be bit of an unfair question, but what do you hear in terms of complaints from people? I noticed when you were out there shaking hands everybody seems perfectly polite but is there a moment when people will actually share a complaint they have with what you're doing?

KW: People talk about energy, they talk about electricity costs for sure. I think that’s the issue I’ve heard the most in the two days, and I’m sure I’ll continue to hear. The fact is, in the North, the distribution charges are higher, and I’m well aware of that. And I try to let people about the programs that we’ve got in place but at the end of the day I have to acknowledge there still is more that needs to be done and we had to make the investments that we’ve made in the electricity system. We’ve got a 90% carbon-free grid now. We’ve built more than 10,000 kilometres of transmission lines. But still the costs associated with that has hit some people disproportionately and I have to be aware of that.

SP: Most people I talk to about that issue seem to think that the costs are that high because of investments you’ve made in solar and wind. Is that true?

KW: No, it’s not true and that’s one of the myths that has to be debunked because that fact is that the bulk of the costs are — whether its debt left over from the previous government or the investments that we’ve made in the infrastructure that was needed to upgrade the grid. Because when we came into office in ’03, there had been many years where the grid had been neglected, where there hadn’t been maintenance and there hadn't been new transmission built. So we had to do that and we have to continue to do that. The other thing that is true about the North is that there is more investment needed. There are more communities that need to be opened up. There’s investments — whether its in roads to remote communities or roads to replace winter roads that are not going to stay in place as long because of climate change, or more electricity transmissions. So its kind of a double-edged sword because there are higher costs but there is also more need in terms of some of that basic infrastructure. We’re investing in broadband so I don't hear about that as much, but that’s the kind of infrastructure that’s needed up here.

SP: Just as a little experiment, I put a picture on Facebook the other day of the Cup and Saucer Trail, which is one the most gorgeous places on Earth. And it’s here on this island. And I basically said, what do you see? And a lot of people see, oh my goodness, spruce trails, phenomenal, gorgeous. Other people saw the six windmills in the background, the wind turbines, and said what a “blight on our landscape.” What would you say to those people who think that those towers are ruining this province?

KW: I would say to them that, in Ontario, we have to have a diverse grid in order for our electricity system to be clean and renewable. And there are going to be many solutions to that. Wind power is one of them. I visited today in Espanola a greenhouse that is going to be a net-zero building, that’s going to have solar panels on the roof. You know, solar is part of that solution. There’s going to be lots of solutions. But we don’t have the hydropower of Quebec or Manitoba. So we have to diversify and we’ll continue to have a base of nuclear. But I want to make sure we do everything we can to keep that clean grid in place and wind power is part of that. And we’ve changed the process so that municipalities and communities have more input into where those wind turbines are sited, but I understand there will be still be people who have questions.

SP: Let me finally get your views on this political development here in Northern Ontario, the creation of the Northern Ontario Party, which is something that seems to happen once a generation or so…

KW: Mhmm.

SP: …presumably this kind of thing doesn't happen unless people up here don’t believe that the mainline parties are representing their interests. So what is it that three traditional parties are not doing that seems to have this cry every couple of generations or so for something else?

KW: I don’t know Steve, and I don’t know whether there’s a direct line between what the traditional parties are doing, what government is doing, and the rising up of this party again, or whether its a broader phenomenon, I really don’t know the answer to that. You’d have to ask them. But what I do know is that I govern one Ontario. When we look at policies at our cabinet table, we’ve got four ministers from the North who raise issues on a regular basis and see action — whether its a spring bear hunt or whether its investments in community infrastructure, health infrastructure like the announcement I was making today in Espanola. I mean I know we are paying attention to the needs of the whole province, so if that’s not getting through than that may be part of the challenge. But I believe that we are stronger as a province if we have an integrated community, an integrated society, and that why I see us as one Ontario.

r/INO is the subreddit for the Northern Ontario independence movement
r/INO believes in:
* A federally recognized Northern Ontario province independent of the rest of Ontario
* The right for Northern Ontario to elect a provincial government and to collect taxes within its borders
r/INO is a subreddit for discussion, news, and activism related to the independence of Northern Ontario